Looking Beyond the Bystander Effect
The California Rape had Participants as Well as Witnesses
Nov 9, 2009
The rape and assault of the 15-year old girl following a school dance on October 2009 at a high school in Richmond California was bad enough. But that’s not all.
Not only did the attack last for over two hours with 7 to 10 boys beating and raping the girl, but it has been reported that approximately 20 bystanders did nothing to stop the attack, some allegedly laughing or taking pictures with their cell phones.
Kitty Genovese and the Bystander Effect
Some media accounts have speculated that the incident was caused by the same “bystander effect” as in the Kitty Genovese incident in Queens, New York on March 13, 1964. On that night, Kitty Genovese was brutally murdered outside her apartment building.
Although people heard her screams from surrounding apartments, some looking out their window, no one helped her, nor did anyone call the police during the attack (though one man did call police, but it was after the attack ended and it was too late to save her life). But the behavior of bystanders in the California rape case was different.
Witnessing Versus Joining in the Attack
The bystander effect has to do with passive behavior – a failure to take action. A failure to take action may occur out of fear of reprisal, a desire to avoid getting involved, or a person may assume that another person will take action.
Since the Kitty Genovese attack took place in more than one location (different parts of an apartment complex), no one saw the event in its entirety, and some failed to realize the sinister nature of what was occurring. This is a far cry from the Richmond event where the bystanders were not only present for the entire duration of the event, but in some cases, the bystanders became participants, while others photographed the event.
Drinking, Social Factors and Other Factors in the Bystander Effect
That’s not to say that the bystander effect didn't "paralyze" some of the observers. But some suggest that this event is about much more than bystander apathy and inaction. The circumstances of the event provided a "perfect storm" leading to what happened and the fact that it went unreported for so long. The precipitating factors included:
- Lots of drinking, which clouds the judgment of anyone, especially teens.
- Availability of a dark alley close to campus that allowed the event to proceed undetected (the area was already identified by the Richmond school board as a location in need of improved lighting and security).
- Involvement by boys as young as 15. As reviewed in "Modern Wisdom Regarding Teenage Brain Development," the brain is not fully matured until the early twenties and before that, the immature brain may result in poor judgment and poor choices.
- A victim who, according to some media accounts, may have been especially vulnerable because of a tendency to want to please others.
- The influence of a "herd mentality," and escalation of violence that can result. Notably, as documented in Peggy Sanday's book "Fraternity Gang Rape," college fraternities have been known to include gang rapes as part of their initiation rites.
- A general coarsening of the culture since the time of the Kitty Genovese incident.
What Next? The Aftermath of the Rape
As of November 2009, a sixth suspect in the Richmond, California case had been arrested, while four of the five other suspects have been arraigned. So the case is proceeding. But many are recognizing the need to address what happened and learn what might be done to prevent such events from happening in the future. There may be room for new laws making it a crime to observe such behavior without reporting it. (The law in California currently makes it a crime only for victims age 14 and under.)
None of the witnesses stopped or reported the attack of the 15-year-old girl in Richmond, California, leading some to compare it to the same "bystander effect" as in the Kitty Genovese murder. But in the Richmond attack, some of the witnesses took part in the attack, others photographed it or reveled in it. Some believe that drinking, a dark alley, and the age of onlookers also caused the event to go unreported.
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